A miner was killed this morning at an underground molybdenum mine in northern New Mexico.

According to information from MSHA and the company, at about 1:30 a.m., Isaac A. Garcia, 22, a mucker, was checking a derailed ore car when he became caught between two ore cars at Chevron Mining, Inc.’s Questa Mine in Taos County.  The mine rescue team immediately began CPR and transported the victim to a waiting ambulance on the surface. However, Garcia, who had 28 weeks of mining experience, was pronounced dead at approximately 3 a.m. 

Consol Energy Co.’s Blacksville No. 2 Mine will resume full production on Monday.

The company announced today that MSHA and state agencies had given the green light to its plan to reopen following a fire March 12.  The coal mine was evacuated safely with no injuries after smoke was seen coming from a ventilation shaft.

A Connecticut sand and gravel operator is under a court order to pay delinquent civil money penalties for Mine Act violations.

In a press release today, the Department of Labor (DOL) said American Industries, Inc. of Jewett City has been ordered to pay $34,061 plus interest at eight percent annually for failing to pay fines dating from 2007. The operator must also post a $30,000 performance bond to ensure future compliance, DOL said. 

U.S. Rep. David B. McKinley (R-WV) has introduced legislation to increase Brookwood-Sago grant funding by at least $10 million and to use the additional funds for research and outreach to prevent and treat black lung disease.

Rulings over the past four business days by separate administrative law judges (ALJs) appear to muddy the water over the length of time allowed MSHA to assess penalties in Sec. 110(c) investigations before the fines are thrown out on procedural grounds. 

A Colorado coal operator has paid two employees more than $200,000 to settle discrimination claims brought against it under the Mine Act.

New Elk Coal Co., LLC has agreed to pay an employee approximately $115,000 after he was fired for reporting alleged safety-related complaints to MSHA, the agency said in a news release Wednesday.  The settlement followed an earlier agreement in January in which the company paid a supervisor about $88,000, according to the release.  In each case, New Elk also paid a $10,000 fine to MSHA.

A lapse of nearly 2½ years between when a citation is issued and a penalty assessed against agents of operators under Sec. 110(c) of the Mine Act is no justification for case dismissal, an administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled Tuesday.

An administrative law judge has ruled that burn injuries an on-call electrician received to his face and hands in an arc flash at a Colorado cement plant were not life-threatening and thus do not support an immediate notification citation issued by MSHA.

A contract welder was killed at a Kentucky surface coal mine because the machinery he was working on at the time of the accident had not been blocked against hazardous motion.

In an accident investigation report released Friday, MSHA said Jerry A. Watts died Jan. 26 after a hydraulic jack slipped that he was using to separate a metal liner from the push blade of a bulldozer.  The liner, which weighed about 1,500 pounds, recoiled striking Watts in the head and pinning his arm.  The accident occurred at T & T Energy, LLC’s Begley Resources #1 Mine in Hyden.